Hear Me Out: Amazon Prime's Beast Games Is Actually More Upsetting To Me Than Anything In Squid Game

A few weeks ago, I didn't think I'd be streaming Beast Games with a Prime subscription. From the time it was announced, I wrote it off as a Squid Game (of which I had already watched Season 1 and the reality show spinoff) knockoff. Fate led me to check out an episode, and I'm here to say Mr. Beast's Amazon series is more upsetting than anything I watched with my Netflix subscription.

I know what some might be thinking: how does a reality series compare to a drama in which people are murdered if they lose a game? Well, let's talk about the competition itself and how Beast Games ups the ante when it comes to drama.

Squid Game's Challenges Come Down To Skill, Beast Games Challenges Come Down To Chance And Trust

A couple of years ago, I wrote about how Squid Game: The Challenge was arguably better than Squid Game, and now I'm here to say Beast Games is better than that. While I assumed the latter was a knockoff of the original premise, there's one key way it sticks out. Squid Game: The Challenge used games of skill mixed with some games of chance to crown a winner.

Beast Games makes things far more personal and frequently forces contestants to sacrifice their chance of winning, or the chances of others, in exchange for wild prizes. With so many contestants in the mix and such a low chance of winning the grand prize of $5 million, you'd be shocked how many people are willing to eliminate dozens of others just for $20k.

I think this is best highlighted with one brutal challenge. Contestants were put in groups of three and told they had time to decide which would self-eliminate so the other two could advance. If no consensus was reached, all three were eliminated. Not to oversell it, but I would say it was some of the best drama I've seen on the 2025 TV schedule so far.

Beast Games Has Made Me Sick To My Stomach In Ways Squid Game Never Did

I like to think I have a certain level of integrity, and that I wouldn't screw over a bunch of other people just for a quick payday. Then I think about how $100k could impact my life, and the odds of actually winning $5 million amongst hundreds of competitors, and suddenly getting a small paycheck at the expense of eliminating a handful of randoms doesn't seem so bad.

There are a few key standouts in Beast Games, but for the most part, many might as well be faceless individuals. While watching, I kept imagining how easy it would be to justify knocking many people out of the game simply because I wouldn't have enough time to get to know them. Of course, that would get harder in the latter stages.

Compare that to Squid Game, where there's usually a scapegoat who is at fault for the eliminations. I can't help if someone doesn't know when to stop during "red light, green light" or if they couldn't knock enough marbles out of the circle. It feels less personal and like fate more than anything, which is the key factor that makes it inferior to Beast Games.

Beast Games is available to stream on Prime Video. With Season 1 out of the way soon, we only have to wait and see if Mr. Beast's show will return for a new season, and as someone glued to the latest episodes, I'm ready for more.